LAP 54

$ uptime
up 53 years, 5 users

LAP 54

lap 54 starts Oct 26

Same track. New lap. Still going.

Patrick McDonoughabout me →

October 26, 2026: I turn 53. If you're a geeky old software engineer, that means I'm starting my 54th trip around the sun. This is where I keep track of it.

Follow along on Instagram See what I'm building
Lap 54: one trip around the sun, to scale, seen from a tilted angle, with Mercury, Venus and Mars on their own orbits Mercury Venus Mars perihelionJan 3 aphelionJul 4 lap 54 startsOct 26
Earth’s real orbit, to scale (e = 0.0167), seen at a tilt, with Mercury, Venus and Mars where they’ll really be on October 26. The sun sits off-center at one focus. One year = 54 seconds here, and Mercury fits in four laps.

cat mindset.md

Lap 54 isn't an age. It's a mindset.

Keep building. Keep moving. Be present. Keep noticing. You can be on Lap 54 at any age. I started mine at 53.

cat how-it-started.md

Am I too old for this?

Every year my mom asks what I want for my birthday. This year I actually had an answer. My watch had finally given out, and it was the kind of thing I need but would never buy for myself.

So after the gym one morning, I texted her: would you and Dad want to get me a new watch for my birthday? She wrote back right away, thrilled. Of course they would.

Driving home, I felt a little guilty. A grown man asking his parents for a birthday present. Then it hit me. They don't get many chances to do that for me anymore. Asking wasn't taking something from them. It was giving them something.

Sometimes the gift is letting them give.

I hope my kids still ask me when they're my age.

That was day one. Now I post one small realization most days. Some are about family, some are about building things, some are about staying in shape at this age. All of them are real.

git log --oneline

Realizations so far.

~/lap54 — git log --oneline
  1. T−3Build a little every day and the whole pond changes.Beaver dam, Baker's Meadow. The weekend is almost here.
  2. T−4Take it easy, Dude. The Dude abides.Home office, the sweater, and a rug that really ties the room together.
  3. T−5Best coworker ever.Never misses a meeting. Sleeps through most of them.
  4. T−6Gym − headphones = 3 Claude Code project builds.Turns out quiet isn't empty.
  5. T−7Turning 53. Starting Lap 54.Sometimes the gift is letting them give.
  6. next
See every post on Instagram

ls ~/lap54

Three things, done most days.

./family
A cartoon of the five of us peeking around a wall

Show up. Be present. Keep the traditions.

A household of five, a cat named Coco who attends every meeting, and the kind of small moments that are easy to miss if you're not paying attention.

./build

Stay curious. Ship something.

Thirty years of software and I'm having more fun than ever, building games and tools with AI, sometimes from my phone between sets at the gym.

The Garage →
./body

Simple stuff, every day.

Mental and physical health, kept simple. The gym. A few minutes of morning sun. A hydrogen tablet drink to start the day. Creatine. Lessons from Huberman Lab and that universe: neuroscience, sleep, longevity. Nothing fancy. I'm a creature of habit, and for once that's the whole trick. This is what I do, not advice.

Read the disclaimer →
Black t-shirt printed with a terminal prompt reading $ caffeinate -dis
Back of a charcoal hoodie printed with # TODO: sleep

open kit/issue-001

$ caffeinate -dis

The Mac command that keeps your computer awake, on a tee and a hoodie for the humans who need the same. # TODO: sleep on the back.

See the first drop